August 2011: Healthy, Lupin-Based Ice Cream

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Summer without ice cream? For many, this would be unimaginable, but individuals who are lactose intolerant often have to find other options. Fraunhofer researchers have developed LUPINESSE, ice cream produced from indigenous lupin, a common garden perennial, that is completely free of lactose, gluten, cholesterol, animal proteins, and fats.

This is the first time that scientists have been able to create a pure vegetable ice cream product from lupins. The secret behind the ice cream lies in the selection of the lupin variety and a special production method. Blue sweet lupin is particularly rich in protein, has a balanced flavor, flourishes when grown in Germany, and improves soil quality with its nitrogen-binding roots. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany, use the high-quality protein from the seeds to make the ice cream. In addition to providing a creamy consistency, the lupin protein adds nutritional value through its cholesterol-regulating effects. LUPINESSE has been available in selected German supermarkets since May 2011 and comes in four flavors: Vanilla-Cherry, Strawberry-Mousse, Walnut Dream and Choco-Flakes.

Prolupin GmbH, a spinoff of the IVV, is in charge of producing and marketing the ice cream. The company, headquartered in Neubrandenburg, Germany, cooperates with “PlantsProFood – Food from the Blue Sweet Lupin,” a growers’ initiative sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. LUPINESSE is produced by Helados Alacant according to recipes devised by Fraunhofer developers.

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